The Costa Brava tourism industry has done a full circle since its birth in the 1950’s. When the first waves of tourists arrived on the coast in old warplanes, searching for the Spanish sunshine, Costa Brava was 160 kilometres of uninterrupted mountain-to-coast scenery.

Over the next 30 years, the areas thriving tourist industry began to have a negative affect on the coast. location appartement costa brava began to scupper the beautiful landscape and the character and traditions of the area were rapidly fading.

However, since the 90’s, the local governments have started to clean up their resorts. There is now a focus on promoting Costa Brava’s places of cultural interest and traditional restaurants have rightly edged out fast food chains. Package holidays are becoming a thing of a past with holiday makers preferring to stay in traditional Costa Brava Apartments.

One of the places of interest being promoted is the Sant Ferran Castle. The castle is a real architectural jewel of the 18th century that is in perfectly interpretable conditions. Today, it is possible to visit the moats, the countermines, its majestic stables or to submerge into what is called the water cathedral, the huge cisterns of the arms square. Sant Ferran is one of the most important fortresses in Catalonia because of its majestic size, its history and because its structure is in original conditions in order to carry out different kinds of activities. It’s a popular site for filmmakers and producers from all over the world due to its many cinematographic opportunities.

For history lovers, situated just a few kilometres from Puigcerdà and surrounded by French territory, the Catalan village of Llívia is clustered around a historic centre listed as cultural heritage.
One of the most interesting points in the village is the historic Esteva Pharmacy, which is situated right in front of the tower. The pharmacy was closed down in 1942 and a museum now displays the instruments used over the centuries by apothecaries for making their medicines and remedies.

My personal favourite is the Banyoles Lake in the Pla de l’Estany region. With a surface area of 170 hectares and an incalculable depth in some places the lake is currently a very popular place for practising different activities, such as boat trips and water sports. The lake was a sub headquarters for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games and during 2004, the headquarters of the World Rowing Championship.